1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to stands used for musical instruments such as drum kits, and particularly to stands of hi-hat cymbals.
This application is based on Patent Application No. Hei 11-287975 filed in Japan, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Musical instruments such as drum kits consisting of sets of drums and cymbals use various types of stands such as stands of hi-hat cymbals (hereinafter, referred to as xe2x80x9chi-hat standsxe2x80x9d). Herein, the hi-hat stand supports hi-hat cymbals, i.e., a pair of cymbals being arranged in a xe2x80x9cface-to facexe2x80x9dmanner.
Normally, the hi-hat stand employs a structure in which a stand member is supported by a stand leg unit and a pedal frame in order to secure stability in performance of cymbals. The stand leg unit is normally constructed by a xe2x80x9cfoldablexe2x80x9d tripod consisting of three legs. It is also known that some stand leg unit is constructed by two legs.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a setting state of a conventional hi-hat stand which is supported by a tripod consisting of three legs and is equipped with double drum pedals. FIG. 4 shows a positional relationship between the three legs and pedal, while FIG. 5 shows a positional relationship between the three legs and pedals. As shown in FIG. 3, a hi-hat stand 5 is mainly constructed by a pair of cymbals consisting of a lower fixed cymbal 1A and an upper moving cymbal 1B, a stand member 2 for supporting the cymbals 1, a pedal device 3 for allowing a performer to play with the cymbals 1 and a xe2x80x9cfoldablexe2x80x9d stand leg unit 4 for supporting the stand member 2.
The stand member 2 contains a lower pipe 6, an intermediate pipe 7 and an upper pipe 8, which are assembled together in a vertical direction. That is, the intermediate pipe 7 is connected to an upper end of the lower pipe 6, and the upper pipe 8 is connected to an upper end of the intermediate pipe 7. In addition, the stand member 2 also contains an operation rod 9, which penetrates through the pipes 6, 7 and 8 to freely move up and down. The lower fixed cymbal 1A is attached to an upper end of the upper pipe 8 in an upward manner, while the upper moving cymbal 1B is attached to an upper end of the operation rod 9 in a downward manner to oppositely face with the lower fixed cymbal 1A. The operation rod 9 is normally pressed upwardly by a return spring (not shown) which is inserted into the lower pipe 6. Thus, the upper moving cymbal 1B is normally separated from the lower fixed cymbal 1A in a vertical direction.
The pedal device 3 is constructed by a pedal frame 11, a pedal 12, a heel 13, an interconnection rod 14 and a transmission member 15. The pedal frame 11 is placed on a floor and is attached to a lower end of the stand member 2. The heel 13 is provided as a back-end portion of the pedal 12, which is placed close to the performer. The interconnection rod 14 interconnects the pedal frame 11 and the heel 13 together. The transmission member 15 is constructed by a belt or else, which interconnects a lower end of the operation rod 9 and a front end of the pedal 12 together. Herein, the front end of the pedal 12 is placed close to the stand member 2. In order to play the cymbals, the performer depresses the pedal 12 with his/her foot to lower the operation rod 9 against spring force of the return spring, so that the upper moving cymbal 1B strikes the lower fixed cymbal 1A to produce a cymbal sound.
The pedal frame 11 is made of light metals such as aluminum alloy. Namely, the pedal frame 11 is constructed by a plate-shaped lower frame portion 11A and a gate-shaped support portion 11B. The lower frame portion 11A is directly placed on the floor, and the support portion 11B vertically stands from the lower frame portion 11A. Herein, back ends of the interconnection member 14 are detachably interconnected with the lower frame portion 11A. Thus, it is possible to secure a constant relative distance between the lower frame portion 11A and the heel 13. In addition, a lower end of the lower pipe 6 is fixed to a center of an upper surface of the gate-shaped support portion 11B.
The stand leg unit 4 is constructed by xe2x80x9cfoldablexe2x80x9d three legs 16a, 16b, 16c and three stays 18a, 18b, 18c as well as a first metal fitting 17 and a second metal fitting 19. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the three legs 16a, 16b, 16c are arranged about the stand member 2 with equal angles therebetween. Upper ends of the legs 16a, 16b, 16c are connected to a prescribed position of the intermediate pipe 7 by means of the first metal fitting 17. The stays 18a, 18b, 18c are respectively provided and connected with intermediate portions of the legs 16a, 16b, 16c. Ends of the stays 18a, 18b, 18c are connected to a prescribed position of the lower pipe 6 by means of the second metal fitting 19. Thus, the stand leg unit 4 supports the stand member 2 in a stable manner together with the pedal frame 11. The three legs are subjected to uniform arrangement using an equal angle therebetween. That is, an angle xcex8 (i.e., 120xc2x0) is provided between two adjacent legs, namely, legs 16a and 16b, legs 16b and 16c, and legs 16a and 16c within the three legs. In a normal use condition, the hi-hat stand is not connected with the double drum pedals 21, wherein the stand leg unit 4 is arranged together with the stand member 2 as shown in FIG. 4 such that the legs 16a, 16c are arranged in obliquely front sides of the stand member 2 while the leg 16b is arranged in a back side of the stand member 2.
The double drum pedals 21 allow the performer to rapidly and repeatedly hit a bass drum 22 multiple times. Namely, the double drum pedals 21 contain a first pedal 23A and a second pedal 23B. The second pedal 23B is installed on a pedal frame 24 (see a right section of FIG. 3), which pivotally supports a first rotation shaft 25A and a second rotation shaft 25B respectively. A first beater 26A and a second beater 26B are respectively attached to the first rotation shaft 25A and the second rotation shaft 25B. On the other hand, the first pedal 23A is installed on a pedal frame 27, which pivotally supports a rotation shaft 28. The rotation shaft 28 is interconnected with the first rotation shaft 25A by means of a universal joint 29. Thus, it is possible to independently operate the first beater 26A and the second beater 26B in response to depression of the first pedal 23A and the second pedal 23B. The first pedal 23A is arranged in proximity to the pedal 12 of the hi-hat stand 5. So, the performer selectively depresses the pedal 12 or the first pedal 23A by his/her left foot, whilst the performer depresses the second pedal 23B by his/her right foot. In the normal use condition shown in FIG. 4, if a user (or performer) intends to additionally arrange the first pedal 23A in proximity to the pedal 12, the leg 16c, which is placed in a right side of the pedal 12 within the three legs, acts as an obstruction to additional setting of the first pedal 23A. To allow the additional setting of the first pedal 23A, the user rotates the three legs of the stand leg unit 4 by 30xc2x0 or so in a counterclockwise direction with respect to the stand member 2 as shown in FIG. 5.
As described above, the conventional hi-hat stand 5 normally employs the aforementioned structure in which the stand member 2 is supported by the stand leg unit 4 together with the pedal frame 11. Herein, the stand leg unit 4 is constructed by the three legs 16a, 16b, 16c, which provides the performer with complicated troublesome arrangement of parts of the hi-hat stand around his/her foot. For this reason, the conventional hi-hat stand 5 raises a problem in that the performer""s foot may come into contact with the legs 16a, 16c to obstruct pedal operations of the performer. Particularly, the performer may suffer from troubles in performance of a drum set that uses the double drum pedals 21 with the hi-hat stand 5. In that case, when the first pedal 23A is additionally arranged in a right side of the pedal 12 of the hi-hat stand 5, an interval of distance measured between the leg 16c and the first pedal 23A (see FIG. 5) is small because of a relatively small angle xcex8 (=120xc2x0) being provided between the adjacent legs 16a and 16c. That is, the conventional hi-hat stand 5 suffers from a problem in that it is greatly restricted in additional pedal setting.
To solve the aforementioned problems, engineers propose hi-hat stands whose stand leg unit is constructed by two legs. Examples are disclosed by various papers such as Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 10-232670 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,706. However, such hi-hat stands are complicated in structure because of increasing numbers of parts. In addition, those hi-hat stands are expensive in manufacturing cost, and users have difficulties in manual operations to handle the hi-hat stands. Further, the hi-hat stands are somewhat damaged in appearance.
It is an object of the invention to provide a musical instrument stand such as a hi-hat stand that is improved in stability for performance in a normal use condition and that allows additional pedal setting using double drum pedals with ease.
A musical instrument stand of this invention such as a hi-hat stand equipped with hi-hat cymbals is basically constructed a stand member, a pedal device containing a pedal frame and a pedal, and a stand leg unit corresponding to a foldable tripod containing three legs. In response to depression on the pedal, an upper moving cymbal strikes a lower fixed cymbal by means of an operation rod, which is inserted in the stand member and is interconnected with a front end of the pedal being depressed by a performer.
In the musical instrument stand, the stand leg unit vertically supports the stand member together with the pedal frame of the pedal device, which is placed on a floor. Herein, first, second and third legs of the stand leg unit are spread on the floor and are subjected to nonuniform arrangement such that a first angle is set between the first and second legs and between the second and third legs, while a second angle is set between the first and third legs. Preferably, the first angle ranges between 100xc2x0 and 110xc2x0, and the second angle ranges between 140xc2x0 and 160xc2x0. The pedal is arranged in an area that lies between the first and third legs, which are widely spread with the second angle in plan view. In order to implement additional pedal setting using double drum pedals, for example, an additional pedal is arranged in proximity to the pedal substantially in the area between the first and third legs. Providing a widely spread area between the first and third legs in plan view allows the additional pedal setting with ease and clears areas around a performer""s foot for depressing the pedal(s). Thus, it is possible to improve stability and performability in playing the cymbals.